Unicorn - B.A.A. Logo - 100th Running Boston Marathon - Boston, MA - Epic Beings and Creatures on Waymarking.com

In Boston's Back Bay neighborhood is Copley Square, which has an installation commemorating the 10th running of the Boston Marathon, with the logo of the Boston Athletic Association featuring the head of a unicorn.

The installation is located at the northwest corner of Copley Plaza, in the sidewalk by Boylston Street and near Dartmouth Street.

The installation is roughly square in shape, and is a memorialization of the 100th running of the marathon, which happened in 1996. The logo is dead center in the installation. It is the head of a unicorn, facing left and with the horn extending upper left. The head is engraved in the stone, with some black applied in the design, and black surrounds the design. The design is flanked by the text, "B. A. A. Boston - Marathon." Above this is a vertical profile of the route from beginning to end, and the bottom is a simple map of the route through the towns. Around this design is, engraved, all the winners of the marathon since the begining to the 100th running.

A blog found had the following about the choice of the unicorn in the logo:

"Chosen by the founding members of the Boston Athletic Association in 1887 -- ten years prior to the inaugural Boston Marathon -- the Unicorn is believed to have been chosen as the organization's symbol due to its place in mythology. In Chinese and other mythologies, the Unicorn represents an ideal: something to pursue, but which can never be caught. In pursuit of the Unicorn, however, athletic competitors can approach excellence (but never fully achieve it). It is this pursuit to push oneself to his or her own limit and to the best of one's ability which is at the core of athletics. And for this reason, as the marathon matured, that the B.A.A. also decided that the Unicorn would be the appropriate symbol for the marathon" - per Boston Athletic Association "

20131008 - Changed epic being image from the unicorn in the center of the design in the sidewalk, to a more easily recognizable one on a post at one corner. There are several - take a picture of any of them.

Sources:

Blog, Ryan in Boise (Boston Marathon Logo):
(visit link)

Wikipedia (Boston Marathon):
(visit link)

Boston Athletic Association:
(visit link)

Time Period: Middle Ages Approximate Date of Epic Period: 1000 Epic Type: Mythical Exhibit Type: Other

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Date Logged Log   05/08/2013 Chasing Blue Sky visited it